OPTIMISM OF FALL FADES FOR PADRES AS TEAM FINISHES QUIET OFFSEASON

When the Padres finished the 2012 season, they had momentum, optimism and a plan.

After a disastrous start last spring, the Padres went 49-37 over the season’s final 86 games. And Chase Headley was far from the only Padre to improve down the stretch.

The offseason plan was to bolster the starting pitching with an acquisition or two while expecting bigger and better things from such young position players as Yasmani Grandal, Yonder Alonso, Logan Forsythe, Jedd Gyorko, Cameron Maybin and Everth Cabrera, plus pitchers like Andrew Cashner.

With the start of spring training two weeks away, the Padres — for a variety of reasons — can’t be as optimistic as they were last October.

For one thing, try as he has, General Manager Josh Byrnes has not been able to add quality depth to the club’s iffy starting pitching scenario. The club re-signed Jason Marquis for the back end of the rotation and acquired an interesting ceiling-higher-than-results candidate in Tyson Ross through a trade with Oakland.

Although the Padres will likely sign a couple of free agents with medical questions later this week, the club has no more Opening Day starting rotation candidates today than it had at the end of the season. Marquis’ return is neutralized by the loss of Cashner for the first month of the season following a hunting accident.

Cashner is not the only key player who will be missing at the start of the season. Grandal will miss the first 50 games of 2013 while serving a suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s policy prohibiting performance enhancing drugs. The 2012 season was a disaster for Nick Hundley, the Padres’ varsity catcher at the moment.

And while the Padres were suffering more losses — even if temporary — than gains this winter, their three main rivals in the National League West were busy on the acquisition front.

Not that they needed to improve, the world champion Giants not only kept their 2012 cast intact, they brought back Andres Torres to platoon in left with Gregor Blanco.

The Dodgers continued the spending spree they started last August with the acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez by committing more than $200 million to starting pitchers Zack Greinke (the free agent will make $147 million for six years) and Korean import Ryu Hyun-Jin. The Dodgers also added infielder Skip Schumaker and relief pitchers Brandon League and J.P. Howell and are looking to see Carl Crawford return.

“There are still chances to make additions,” said Byrnes, who has talked about the possibility of making a trade during spring training.

In addition to having a quiet offseason, the Padres haven’t been given any favors by the schedule makers. The Padres want to repeat the fast start that propelled them to 90 wins in 2010. But they will open the 2013 season with seven straight games at the New York Mets and Colorado before playing nine of the next 12 against the Dodgers and Giants.

Gregerson signs

Gregerson, 28, will make $3.2 million in 2013. He was 2-0 with nine saves and a career-best 2.39 earned run average in 77 appearances last season. He had a 1.10 ERA after the All-Star break and had a 1.49 ERA in 43 appearances at Petco Park. He has a 2.92 ERA in 290 career relief appearances with the Padres.

The signing of Gregerson leaves Headley and left-handed starting pitcher Clayton Richard as the lone Padres facing an arbitration hearing.

Notes

Tim Stauffer will likely rejoin the Padres later this week on a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training. If healthy, Stauffer would fit perfectly into the Padres’ rotation. But he made only one start before having elbow surgery last season. And like Cashner and Cory Luebke, Stauffer will not be ready for the first month of the season. Luebke’s return from Tommy John surgery is set for July.

• Former Padres shortstop Garry Templeton has been named the manager of the Newark Bears of the Independent Can-Am League. Since retiring as a player in 1991, Templeton has managed for 13 seasons in the Angels organization and the independent leagues. He led the Chico Outlaws to the independent Golden Baseball League title in 2010.

• The Padres have named Rhonda Sedillo the club’s Chief Financial Officer. Fred Gerson, who held the CFO post with the Padres since 2003, becomes a consultant for the club. Sedillo is a San Diego native and graduate of San Diego State.